NBL camp: Miner Ash Constable training with Melbourne United

By
MELANIE WHELAN

YOUNG Miners guard Ash Constable will train with the visiting Melbourne United this week.

Ash Constable

YOUNG Miners guard Ash Constable will train with the visiting Melbourne United this week.

The National Basketball League club shortlisted Constable from a training session last week for a small group of emerging talent.

Constable joins United from Monday for the club’s five-day camp in Ballarat.

Ballarat Miners coach David Flint said it was great news for Constable, who had been stepping up his game this season.

“We’ll also have to watch and gauge his workload because he’ll also have two training sessions with us and the team is trying to get stuff done with one week to finals,” Flint said.

Constable’s training call-up follows the signing of GMHBA Miners’ point guard Anthony Fisher as a development player with NBL club Perth Wildcats late last week.

Fisher flew to Perth on Sunday for a training camp and will miss the Miners’ final regular season game against Geelong in the South East Australian Basketball League.

He will return in time for finals, but his absence will likely mean a bigger role for Constable in a big clash with the Supercats in Geelong on Saturday night, especially with young guard Sean Massey still nursing a foot injury.

Flint said that while the call-ups disrupted the Miners’ roster, it was well-deserved for both players.

“Fish has done a great job for us the last couple of years.

“He trained with Perth last summer ... he’s been on a weights program from Perth the past 10 months, so we knew he was a chance.”

Constable will train alongside former Miner Lucas Walker, who will prepare to back up a stellar NBL season with United.

Walkers performances for the club, formerly known as Melbourne Tigers, earned his debut call-up for the Australian Boomers in a tour of China in the off-season.

United has confirmed its two new major signings David Barlow and Daryl Corletto will both be on show at the Minerdome.